Most children—in our families, classrooms, or communities—are more or less like dandelions; they prosper and thrive almost anywhere they are planted. Like dandelions, these are the majority of children whose well-being is all but assured by their constitutional hardiness and strength. There are others, however, who, more like orchids, can wither and fade when unattended by caring support, but who—also like orchids—can become creatures of rare beauty, complexity, and elegance when met with compassion and kindness.

No matter how dramatic the end result , building a great enterprise never happens in one fell swoop . There’s no single defining action , no grand program , no one killer innovation , no solitary lucky break , no miracle moment . Rather , the process resembles relentlessly pushing a giant , heavy flywheel , turn upon turn , building momentum until a point of breakthrough , and beyond.

 

A catalytic mechanism produced desired results in unpredictable ways.  

No palace coup can take place without the perception of popular anger at a president.

 

The deep state is by nature cowardly. It does not move unless it feels it can disguise its subterranean efforts or that, if revealed, those efforts will be seen as popular and necessary

the past few years the character of our political division has changed, and this must be noted again.  People are proud of their bitterness now.  Old America used to accept our splits as part of the price of being us – numerous, varied, ornery.  Current America, with its moderating institutions (churches) going down and its dividing institutions (internet) rising, sees our polarization not as something to be healed but a reason for being, something to get up for.  There is a finality to it, a war-to-the-death quality.

five conditions that support his prediction that we are heading for a New Kind of Civil Ware:

 

1. entrenched national polarization, with no obvious meeting place for resolution;
2. increasingly divisive press coverage and information flows;
3. weakened institutions, notably Congress and the judiciary;
4. a sellout or abandonment of responsibility by political leadership; 
5. the legitimization of violence as the “in” way to either conduct discourse or solve disputes.